I think it is up to the vet office.  I know a lot of people are not used to
the "rough" handling of their furballs.  My past vet; who just retired. I
told right up front that I am in the room with them if that is a problem I
will go elsewhere

Different vets have different policies.  The first time I took Holly and
Duffy in for blood draw, my vet simply took one at a time into the lab and I
stayed in the examining room with the other cat.  That time was dreadful!
It took an inordinately long time (each cat) to draw blood, and I could hear
them screaming.  This was with a vet who is very knowledgeable and gentle.
The next time, I said I wanted to go into the lab with them.  My vet had no
objection -- and later said he was glad I had done that.  With me in the
room, each of my cats remained calm and the vet was able to do the whole
procedure in just a matter of a few minutes.  There was no pain.  I knew
enough not to talk or interfere, but my presence seemed to have a calming
effect.  I do think it depends on your demeanor and your relationship with
your cats, but I will never again permit my cats to be taken back to the lab
unless I accompany them.

MaryL

Depends on the animal, the vet, the owner and the proceedure. Some things
owners are allowed to be there for, others not. In some cases, the animals
will behave better without Mom/Dad there, vs with them there. Also, there is
the concern of how the owner will behave with 'Fluffy' undergoing the
proceedure (its one more thing for the staff to have to worry about). I read
a report from a vet once where someone snatched their animal away from the
needle while the animal was being euthanized, causing great distress to the
animal, the owner and vet. That vet no longer allows family present during
euthanasias. Other less extreme examples are things like hightened stress
levels in the room, which can be passed on to the animal.

Sometimes staff just get the feeling that having the owner around might not
be the best idea, and so may ask the owners to leave the room.

None of this is to say that the owner in the room can't be a benefit, but
just that sometimes having family there may not be the best thing for the
animal.

If you've been denied your request to be in the room with your pet, by all
means, I'd encourage you to ask why, but be prepared to listen to the
possible reasons, and accept that the staff might possibly be right.

Dale

In article
<5b3780af-3b52-4ec4-95e6-d80fce0ca47b@w5g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,

My vet lets me go with the pet. One Sunday morning one of my dogs
was severely attacked by another. I took Rosie in on an emergency
and stayed in the "operating room" all the time the vet was doing
what he had to do to clean and stitch her up.

Any time I've said that I want to be with the dog or cat, I've
been allowed to.

It's certainly up to each individual clinic. First off, not all procedures
are conducive to audience participation. It can be distressing to the owners
to see some things and the pet can be more wiggly when their humans are
around. Blood draws may seem minor, but - for instance- cats need to be held
a certain way for the neck to be shaved down and then the needle inserted.
If the owner doesn't know how to hold the cat or moved during the procedure,
it could be dangerous. Even off to the side, it's hard for them not to talk
to the cat to try to sooth them making the cat want to wiggle out of the
arms. Not good when a needle is being inserted into a neck vein.

Safety - there have actually been cases out there where the client has been
allowed to restrain their own dog and then was turned on and bitten. They,
in turn, sued the vet for 'allowing' the injury, and won. Some vets have
legal consents clients have to sign waiving rights to sue if they restrain
instead of staff.

In our case, the doctor decides. If it's done in the exam room, it has to be
a situation where clients would be there. If the pet is brought back to our
treatment area because of the need for help and/or equipment needed, the
client is not allowed for several reasons.

1. Safety - We need a trained staff member to do the holding. They go
through extensive training to learn how to hold animals of all shapes and
sizes so as not to injure themselves or the pet. Pets usually cry out not
from a needle stick but from the holding. It tends to piss them off! If done
properly, it's fast and safe.

2. Confidentiality - our treatment area is very large - much like a great
room in a house. It containes a lab to one side, the ICU on another, prep
area for OR  and radiology as well as tables for minor treatments. There are
other things going on there with cage cards listing owner names and other
confidential information as well as files around. We hold confidentiality
very high. IF we have a tour going on we'll flip the clip boards over and
grab charts, but we can't be doing this all day long. There are also
discussions going on regarding other cases, sometimes about clients'
financial situations and phone calls going on with clients. The staff
doesn't need to be looking over their shoulders all day and hushing their
discussions.

3. It's busy back there. It's no place for traffic as staff is going about
their business processing urine and stool samples, running blood work,
inducing and prepping animals for surgery, taking x-rays around the corner
etc. There may be bodily fluids being spilled on the floor or a wet floor
from just getting it mopped.

4. The staff works hard to keep it extremely clean and there are areas we
don't want stuff tracked back to. You'd be surprised what some people drag
in on their clothes that is not conducive to a hospital facility.

5. In that area, our medications are double locked. They need to be
available for emergencies. We don't need all of our business on display.

Now, that doesn't mean we bar the owners from being around all the time.
It's a case by case issues. We never allow clients to restrain for
procedures - ever. But there are times if we know the owner that we'll let
them stick around if it's a quiet time. Over the weekend a blocked cat had
to be catheterized. The owner was an out of town tech and the doctor decided
that she was knowledgeable and calm enough to actually help. And on a
holiday, the treatment area was empty as well as the ICU (amazing). I've
also seen emergencies where the panicked owners made the situation far worse
for the animal. We do what we do to keep the patient and owner safe and we
protect our other clients and patients as well. Discretion is always key.